Men do not consider the fact that “[women] are the backbone of Sierra Leonean labor,” which should give women a higher status in the culture (Countries and Their Cultures, 2015). Women have to do labor such as planting, harvesting, weeding, gather wood, cooking, cleaning, and child care because men do not perform these tasks. When women have families, they must stay home to take care of that family. Mothers take their babies everywhere with them by carrying them on their backs in lappas which are essentially baby harnesses made of bright cloth. Women are often not only required to take care of their own children, but to help take care of their extended family’s children as well.
Women face many issues other than just political and economic inequality. Sierra Leone women are subject to brutal mutilation and heinous crimes just for being women. Because men see women as too emotional and weak, they consider them easy to prey on. It is unsafe for women to walk alone outside because they are at high risk of being verbally, physically, or sexually abused (Opinion, 2015). These issues of inequality between men and women have made women fight for their rights.
Sierra Leonean women have “…challenged military regimes and fought for peace,” they have been successful in passing some women’s rights laws, and they have held very few political positions. In 1999, during the civil war, women congregated and marched across the nation in an effort to establish peace. This march lead to the signing of the 1999 Lome Peace Accord. In 2007, the Sierra Leonean government passed a set of laws to protect women’s rights and covered areas of “… domestic violence, registration of customary marriage and divorce, and devolution of estates” (Opinion, 2015). Madam Ella Koblo Gulama held the first post-independence cabinet position. All of these advances have brought Sierra Leone to achieving gender equality.
Women are crucial to supporting the success of the country, and because of this they deserve better treatment than they currently receive. Through Sierra Leone’s development, equality is closer to being reached, but it is still a distant dream for Sierra Leonean women. Being a woman, I cannot imagine living in a country that was too dangerous for me to walk alone outside in. All people should have the right to feel safe in their living environments. I also believe that everyone should have an equal right to be an actively participating citizen in political decisions because they affect everyone’s lives. Although their strides at achieving equality with men have been great, men will have to change their basic perception that women are inferior before any real, effective change can be made.
References:
Countries and Their Cultures. (n.d.). Retrieved February 27, 2015, from http://www.everyculture.com/Sa-Th/Sierra-Leone.html
Halamuddin, S. (n.d.). Gender Equality in Sierra Leone « Awoko Newspaper. Retrieved February 27, 2015, from http://awoko.org/2012/08/02/gender-equality-in-sierra-leone/
Opinion. (n.d.). Retrieved February 27, 2015, from http://worldpress.org/Africa/3777.cfm